United Kingdom > London > Corporate and commercial > M&A: smaller deals up to £50m
M&A: smaller deals up to £50m
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- Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP
- Bircham Dyson Bell LLP
- Boodle Hatfield
- Collyer Bristow LLP
- Davenport Lyons
- Davies Arnold Cooper LLP
- Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge UK LLP
- Faegre & Benson LLP
- Fasken Martineau LLP
- Finers Stephens Innocent LLP
- Forsters LLP
- Fox Williams LLP
- Howard Kennedy
- Ince & Co
- Irwin Mitchell LLP
- Kemp Little LLP
- Maclay Murray & Spens LLP
- McGrigors LLP
- McGuireWoods London LLP
- Memery Crystal LLP
- Pritchard Englefield
- Rosenblatt Solicitors
- Wallace LLP
- Withers LLP
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Headed by the highly rated Laurence Markham, Beachcroft’s seven-partner team has seen an increase in work coming from some of its major insurer clients. It advised Allianz on a £5m investment in insurance broker Oval. Other representative clients include AXA and Cartier.
Bristows’ formidable strength in IP and technology gives it a sturdy platform from which to grow its corporate team. New client wins include Hewlett-Packard, Smith and Nephew, and WPP. The team is led by Mark Hawes, and includes Ken Boehner. ‘The firm’s sense of client service and value is excellent’.
Burges Salmon LLP’s clients are impressed with ‘the depth of knowledge of the team’, which saw a significant number of joint venture instructions over the year. It acted on 70 transactions in 2010 with an aggregate value of £750m, for clients including Jarden Corporation and International Power. Camilla Usher-Clark is an ‘excellent negotiator’; and Alan Barr, Richard Spink and Mahrie Webb are all praised by clients.
The ‘first-rate’ team at Farrer & Co is ‘attentive and caring’. Adam Walker is ‘the commercial lawyer’s commercial lawyer’; Jai Bal is ‘consistently astute’; Richard Lane is ‘business savvy’; and Jeremy Tizzard is also well regarded. Client wins in 2010 included BPP Holdings and Oxford University. The team advised Serabi Mining in an investment by way of a £3.6m private placement of shares in the company by the Brazilian-based Eldorado Gold.
With a wide range of entrepreneurial clients, Fladgate LLP’s ‘faultless ’ team recently acted for Gü on the multimillion-pound sale of Noble Foods, and Fourth Hospitality on its acquisition of Star Logic. Charles Wander heads the practice; David Robinson ‘gets things instantly, and gives no-nonsense advice’; and Jeremy Whiteson ‘does everything with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of efficiency’.
Harbottle & Lewis LLP’s traditional strength in the media, entertainment and communications sectors continues to serve the M&A practice well. Head of corporate Tim Parker led a team advising MAMA Group on the defence of the £46m takeover offer by HMV. Colin Howes advised the principal shareholders on the sale of the entire issued capital of Monkey Kingdom to NBC Universal. Mark Phillips is also recommended.
Manches LLP ‘shows a strong degree of commercial awareness and understanding’, with head of department Matthew Martin singled out for particular praise. The five-partner team advised All Saints Retail on £20m of investment from Kaupthing Bank. Other representative clients include Moss Bros, Brightside Group and MHM Holdings.
Marriott Harrison has the scope, with 11 partners, to act on a broader variety of deals than some competitors. Jonathan Pearce and Jon Sweet are key figures. With a strong AIM client base, the team advised Clapham House Group on its takeover by Nando’s Group, and Domino Music Group on its acquisition of Oval Group.
Shepherd and Wedderburn gives ‘excellent mid-market advice’, and despite a challenging economic landscape managed to chalk up over 60 deals in 2010. New client wins included AEGON and Porterbrook Leasing. While its bread and butter is the sub-£50m category, 2010 saw the team act for Cairn Energy on its $8.46bn sale to Vedanta Resources, opposite Latham & Watkins LLP. Walter Blake is ‘very commercial, measured and intelligent’.
Speechly Bircham LLP’s deal flow saw a sharp upturn in 2010, with a good proportion of deals above the £50m mark. The firm has seen a significant increase in inward investment transactions by Gulf-based clients, and advised on the multimillion-pound takeover of Execution Noble by Banco Espirito Santo. Tom Shaw heads the team, and Martin Wright is recommended.
Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP provides a ‘first-class’ service to its clients, with practice head Mark Tasker described as ‘thorough, prompt and professional’. He joined the firm in 2010 from Fox Williams LLP. The team’s wide range of clients includes Clydesdale Bank, Comme des Garçons, and FinnCap.
Bircham Dyson Bell LLP’s M&A team racked up 22 transactions totalling over £300m in 2010. Its standout deal was advising Smurfitt Kappa on its asset swap with Mondi Group with a total cash cost of £45m. John Turnbull heads the practice.
Nigel Stone’s team at Boodle Hatfield was given a fillip in 2010 with the hire of the highly rated Ute Mueller and Bernd Ratzke from Dawsons LLP, and Richard Beavan from Nabarro LLP. The team advised a consortium of investors on the £33m acquisition of a Jersey property company.
Collyer Bristow LLP’s team, led by Paul Sillis, was strengthened by the arrival of Nick Gould from Ince & Co. The team counts Banco do Brasil and Middlesex University among its key clients.
While Davenport Lyons’ roster of media clients was to the fore in 2010, the team also advised on Millwall Holdings’ £7.5m cash raising, and Laximi BNS Holdings on the financing and acquisition of Colorama Pharmaceuticals. Michael Hatchwell leads the group.
Led by Ian Brent, Davies Arnold Cooper LLP is ‘always willing to get into the business’, with David Manifould noted as ‘very bright, calm and thoughtful’. The team acted on 25 deals with an average deal size of £21.4m, including advising Go-Ahead Group on a number of disposals of non-core businesses.
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge UK LLP was in serious investment mode in 2010, hiring Shawn Atkinson from Kirkland & Ellis International LLP and Niall McAlister from CMS Cameron McKenna LLP. The bulk of the team’s work is venture capital, with a particular focus on financial services, credit cards and banking assets. David Ramm heads the group, which has won Carlyle Group and Citibank as new clients.
Faegre & Benson LLP’s predominantly domestic business is boosted by its ties into the US and China acting for private entrepreneurs and larger plcs. The team is noted as ‘understanding the needs of a US publicly traded company’. Paul Finlan and Gary Laitner are the standout partners.
Fasken Martineau LLP continued to invest in its corporate practice with the hire of Catherine Moss from Halliwells. June Paddock leads the team, which excels in AIM matters, particularly in pharma and energy. It counts Alliance Pharma and Oando among its key clients.
Finers Stephens Innocent LLP has ‘good strength in depth’. It advised Yell Group on the acquisition of the share capital of Trusted Places. Practice head Ashley Reeback has ‘excellent commercial acumen’, and Brian Slater has ‘superb tax technical knowledge’.
Craigie Pearson leads the group at Forsters LLP, which recently acted for three investors on their £30m investment into Pinnacle Regeneration Group. It also counts British Airways Pension fund and Soho House Group among its clients.
Fox Williams LLP is ‘well stocked with good lawyers’. The team, headed by Paul Osborne, acted on over 30 deals worth a total of £80m. Peter Faber, who joined from Jones Day, ‘engenders respect’, and Nick Sayers is also recommended.
Howard Kennedy’s overall level of service is described as ‘excellent’, with its dedicated hotels and leisure practice attracting high praise. Led by Michael Harris and including the highly rated Eric Gummers, the team recently advised on the sale of St James Hotel & Club at a reported price of £1m per room.
Ince & Co strikes a good balance in its M&A practice, acting for clients in sectors ranging from shipping to media and e-commerce Stephen Jarvis, who heads the three-partner team, is highly recommended.
Irwin Mitchell LLP’s M&A profile continued to rise with the hire of David Glover from Eversheds LLP. Led by corporate head Andrew Woolf, the firm advised Southbank UK on the reverse takeover of AIM-listed company Nviro Cleantech.
Kemp Little LLP stands out for its commitment to the TMT sector, and is ‘always up to date with industry trends’. The team has seen a number of instructions from high-profile clients, including a string of deals from Thomson Reutuers. A team advised TripAdvisor on the acquisition of Holiday Lettings from Rightmove.
Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s four-partner London team is headed by Joanna Higton, and picked up a number of financial services and energy mandates over the year, including completing the £84.7m acquisition by Aberdeen Asset Management of RBS’ fund of hedge funds; Guy Norfolk led on the deal.
McGrigors LLP ‘focuses on the real issues, and leaves the “nice to haves” aside’. It was recently reappointed to BP’s UK legal panel, and the international side of its work continues to grow; recent work includes advising Al-Shaheen Energy Services on taking a 50% stake in PII Pipeline Solutions. Mark Waegner is praised as ‘responsive and pragmatic’.
McGuireWoods London LLP is praised for its ‘excellent and attentive service’, and a raft of its partners attract high praise from clients, including Mehboob Dossa, Robert Rakison, Mark Langford and Richard Beresford. Its stock in trade is deals with an international flavour; over 80% of its mandates involve at least one foreign party. It recently acted for NYSE-listed Teledyne Technologies on its $52m acquisition of AIM-listed company Intelek.
Memery Crystal LLP beefed up its corporate team with the appointment of Sean Rush as a partner from Petro-Canada UK. Its market-leading AIM practice had a busy 2010, with standout deals including advising Petro-Canada on its sale to Dana Petroleum for £240m. Andrew Titmas is valued for his ‘integrity and responsiveness’.
Pritchard Englefield’s focus on deals with an international twist continued to serve it well in 2010. The well-regarded Bryan Bletso advised US-based media company PlayNetwork on a joint venture in the UK. Mark Harden is ‘competent and reliable’.
Rosenblatt Solicitors’ four-partner M&A team, led by Tom Ferns, carried out two deals for Richard Desmond’s plc Northern & Shell in 2010, including its acquisition of Channel 5. Ian Rosenblatt and Jon Lovitt are recommended.
Wallace LLP continues to thrive in the technology, sports and media sectors. The firm counts Enic, the majority shareholder in Tottenham Hotspur FC, as one of its regular corporate clients. Rex Newman is popular with clients, and David Judah is also recommended.
Allied to its private client and luxury brand expertise, Withers LLP has focused on building out its ties into the CIS and Italy, and is beginning to punch above its a weight on a number of deals. Paul McGrath led a team that advised the founders of Sophos on its $830m sale to Apax Partners.
Martin Kay at Blake Lapthorn ‘understands the client’. The seven-partner team is valued for its ‘outstanding business acumen’, and regularly acts for Telecom Italia and The Royal British Legion.
The team at Bryan Cave leverages off the firm’s significant US platform, and has growing relationships in the energy sector, advising Rusal among others.
Druces LLP’s four-partner team acted on 34 deals with a total market value of £301m. It recently won appointment to HSBC’s commercial deals panel. Christopher Axford is the standout partner.
Edwin Coe LLP combines ‘solid knowledge’ with ‘a practical approach’, with Andrew Bretherton recommended. The team was boosted by the arrival of Nick Williams from legacy firm Hammonds LLP. The team picked up Ladbrokes as a new client.
Hill Dickinson LLP’s shipping and commodities client base drives much of the firm’s deal flow. Malcolm Entwistle is the key partner.
Laytons has a broad range of clients from small-cap public companies to management at listed companies. Its international client base is growing, particularly from the US. Justin Crewe is highly recommended.
Penningtons Solicitors LLP’s combination with Dawsons LLP in mid 2011 has done much to boost the firm’s M&A profile. New product areas have been introduced, including private equity and joint venture capabilities along with the establishment of an India desk. Simon Bickerdike leads the team.
Alistair Hogarth’s team at PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal LLP noted an uptick in mandates relating to CGT planning. It acts for a good number of management teams on transactions in the sub-£50m category.
Lindsey Hemingway is the standout partner at Rooks Rider Solicitors LLP, which represents entrepreneurs and SMEs.
Wedlake Bell LLP has moved to boost its corporate presence in the City, hiring Edward Craft from Nabarro LLP. The team acted for AIM-listed company Elektron on a takeover and £3.4m raising.
Wiggin LLP plays to its strengths in the media world, with an impressive breadth of clients including Endemol, Optomen Television, and Leopard Films. Michael Brader is the partner of note.